United Around Jesus

All right, as we come to the time to preach God's word. We in Romans chapter 12 today, Romans chapter 12, United Around Jesus. If you can turn the room is, it's Matthew Mark, Luke John in the New Testament acts Romans were taking a break from the book of Acts. We've been going through that for quite a while. Now, since I've been here with everything going on in the world with politics with different beliefs with just so much Division, I felt I've been planning. I knew that November was coming. So I've been playing this for a long time to jump into Romans 12, through 15 to focus on our Unity as Christians and how we treat people that differ from us, that disagree with us on many things.

If I don't have the right scriptures on their Glen, don't worry about it. It might not have loaded but for it because this one is going to be on there. I'm going to read. Please stand and honor reading God's word. This is Romans 12, and was going to read verses 1 and 2, and then we'll go through the whole chapter verse by verse. But just hears one and two, as we start This is therefore brothers and sisters in the view of the mercies of God. I heard you to present your bodies as a Living Sacrifice holy and pleasing to God this is your true worship. Do not be conformed to this age but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. So that you may discern what is good, pleasing and perfect will of God, let us pray. God, thank you so much for your word. Thank you for the opportunity and ability to be here, today to open your word and apply it to our lives. Be with me. I need you, God, to help me preach and explain this in a fire accurately, everyone here. We need your spirit to Enlighten our eyes and open our hearts to the truth that we're about to see today. We pray this in Jesus name, amen. Amen. You may be seated.

Romans chapter 12. This is important because Satan is doing everything. He can to break the church apart, whether it be different styles of music, even different Bible translations. People have different opinions and interpretations on so many different things. Different politics are different, cultures the list can go on and on and the solution to these differences is not to say all these things don't matter. Your preference of Music doesn't matter. Your Bible translation, doesn't matter how you vote doesn't matter. Know that's not true. All these things are important. So, how do we respond? With these important issues. The solution is that we need to be United around the gospel United Around, Jesus, and a United Church is not a church in uniformity. We don't have a church that we look all the same and act exactly the same. We don't talk exactly the same. We all have the same preferences and opinions, Because I beautiful gospel proclaiming unity in the church is Unity, am its diversity. Unity Around Jesus. Admits A diversity of gifts, A diversity of talent, and preferences Unity Around Jesus. That is beauty. When people come into our church, I say well you guys got people all over the place here. How are y'all together? How do you love one? Another, how do you all help each other out? We are not United around any preferences or opinions vary United Around Jesus. Jesus changes us. That's why were you ever going to be starting this series for the next four weeks going to the Book of Romans. And today in Romans 12 will have four main sections. Number one, it's all begins with God's mercy, God's mercy, transforms us and then we'll see second how God's mercy humbles us. As in third will see that we are a family in Christ is in for how we should love our enemies. So first God's mercy, transforms us as it doesn't first, one there for brothers and sisters in view of the mercies of God. Early in this letter Paul explain how people are adopted into God's family by his Mercy that you need God's mercy that you need to trust in Jesus as gift of his sacrifice, on the cross to be forgiven of your sins and opted into the family. That's what the Christian Life. It begins and ends and rooted and sustained by the mercy of God. From the beginning, how you live? Because he says, in the view of the mercies of God, and he's going to tell us this how you should live. So if you don't get this, if you don't understand, God's mercy, everything else and it will not make sense. You can't do what we're about to talk about. If you don't first understand, God's mercy, This is the greatest act of Mercy that Jesus died for our sins. But any other good thing in your life is a mercy from God, that you did not deserve and that's how we should look at and perceive the world. Everything we're about to go through is rooted in God's love, and compassion and mercy for us. How we live as result of God's mercy, not a means to attain God's mercy. This is very important because we're going to talk about how we should live as Christians. And I don't want anybody to leave here thinking, I have to do XY and Z after I have to stop doing this, I need to do this and then maybe God will love me because that's not. What is the truth at all. What is true. God loves you. He has shown you mercy and now you live a certain way out of that, okay? So you have to understand this first Busy as he says, he rooted in the mercies of God and he continues the same verse 1. This urge you to present your body as a Living Sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God, this is your true worship. So, if you haven't done this, if you haven't trusted in Jesus, as your God, save during team, God, if you haven't had God, transform your life not just on Sunday mornings. But if you're a father of Jesus, your whole life is transformed. Your whole life is to be worship. We sing and worship, that's one aspect. But if you would come to church and sing your heart out at church, but then go to a restaurant after church to lunch and be disrespectful and hateful to the guy behind the counter, you have failed to worship God as you want. Worship is for your whole life and in today, the next few weeks will be exploring. What does it look like to worship god with our whole lives here? In the verse Paul explains that the way we worship, God is my first being a Living Sacrifice because Jesus died in our place as a sacrifice for our sins and rose again. In Christ, we can be a Living Sacrifice, which means our lives are dedicated to God in the Old Testament. Sacrifices were made and dedication to God. Now, our lives, our sacrifice, we are for him, we live for his glory, we die to our old, sinful self. We have a new life in Jesus, that's our life should be, wholly should be set apart. Should be pure obedient to God's ways. And if we are living these kinds of Lies, This will be pleasing to God. This is really awesome to think about that, even though we're sinful and we make mistakes and we have the perfect god of the universe ahead of us, and we can come before him and be pleasing to him. We can actually do things by the spirit of God and by his Mercy that are pleasing to him when we live, as he has commanded us to live as we strive to live this way. We recognize that we don't always do it perfectly. We don't live out. A hundred percent of our Lives. Holy, we don't do. We do things that displease God. It was. So, we have to remember, we had to go back to the mercy of God. Remember that. There is full forgiveness in Christ me to go back to the Cross. Never stops loving us. You can think about your parents or as you as a parent and your kids. You never stopped loving your kids, even if they do things that displease you, right? So there are things that we can do that displeased God but he never stops. Loving you. So how do we live? What do what things should we be doing? He says in verse 2. That we need to be continually transformed. He says do not be conformed to this age that is this world? This evil age think that are counter to God don't be conformed and be like that but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. You see this is a continual process. If you've been in church for 50 years and you're not continually growing, you're not continually changing and something's wrong. If you are stagnant, if you haven't bought, if you haven't had an increase in Holiness, you're failing to worship God, as you want,

Where we need to be continually transformed because we have temptations that hit us every day. We need to know what God wants from us into live it out. In the way, for the way to live a holy life. The way we worship God Is by renewing our minds. This is a change on the deepest level in order, to change your life, in order to change your actions. That begins with how you think, how you perceive things? How you look at the world. It begins with knowledge. It not only begin this way, but it is a continual process, because we all have long thought about something. We all need to be thinking more like Jesus everyday.

God, doesn't expect Perfection of you, don't get, don't get that. Like, God has this goal. He wants you. This is how he laid out for us to live, but he knows, Your phone's that he knows Temptations. So he doesn't expect Perfection like if you don't. If you fall short today, what you will? God that is that is understandable that you are in the same boat with the rest of us. But what God does expect is an upward trajectory of Holiness. He does expect for those who have experienced his mercy and salvation to be continually growing will have setbacks. Yes, but is your life. A trajectory of being more like Jesus, And how you do that is begin. Like I said would knowledge because how we think is foundational for living for God as it says. So that you may discern what is good pleasing and the perfect will of God because this is a very basic if you don't know what God's will is how can you do it, right? If you don't know what is pleasing to God, how can you do it? You must know what it is, then you can start to try to do it. And everybody has a deep internal longing to know what God wants. Especially Christians, we want to know what God wants for us. What is our purpose in life? Why are we here? And in today's only these two verses so far we've seen that your life. If you're here today, God has you here for a reason and are just as every person that's ever been created? Reason he created you to worship Him. He wants you to give him glory to live your life for him. And the way you do that is by following his commands living, the way he has for us. That how is how you live a life of worse by doing what he says is good and what are some of these things that please God because we kind of is General. Okay. I want to follow God. I want a, I want to do what he says is good but what are these things? Well, he gives us some of these and he begins with I think are foundational aspect of how we should live. We should be humble as our second section today. God's mercy, humbles us, looking for stories, going to give us ate a whole list of examples of how we should live, because we've been transformed by the mercy of God first three for the by the grace, given to me. I tell everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he should think. I remember this is in the context of the Church. Believers brothers and sisters, he calls them. They've been adopted into the family and he says, don't think too highly more highly than you should think of yourself. He's at the Temptation for us to be prideful even in as we're doing church ministry, I can imagine Holly speaking to people that are heading up, all the Ministries in the church and he says Press the brakes. Make sure you're not prideful because you're not the only one that has gifts abilities and talents. You're not the only one that can do that Ministry. If you think you have every gift and talent, if you think you can do it all and you don't need anybody else. God is saying, you are speaking more highly of yourself than you should. Explains this number three. He says don't think that way instead think sensibly as God has distributed a Measure of Faith to each one. What does that mean? What is a Measure of Faith? How does God distributed these things explained Xenoverse for says, we have many parts in one body and all the parts that do not have the same function. So we have you talking about the church and uses the metaphor of the of the body you have one United Body and Soul as a church reunited around Christ. We have the mission follow Jesus in a mission to worship God that we are united around that. But as we're going towards that mission, we have different functions, people with different preferences, but different gifts and those things are not a bad thing, but it's actually good thing. He's so it over United in many ways, we're not all exactly the same, he explains a verse five. It says in the same way, we are many who are one body in Christ, in individually members of one another. So we see that unit eat were once together in Jesus, But we have 46, according to the grace, given to us, we have different gifts. And this is why we're to be humble. This is why you can't think I can do Church. All on my own. I can do every Ministry by myself. I'm the only one God has gifted. Now, when you say it like, that sounds ridiculous, right? Put are there things that we functionally live that way. Like, oh, we can't change this ministry. We can't do this, because this is how we've always done it because this is the only way people will get saved. If we do this ministry. Again, we would never say that out loud. Do we functionally live that way? We can't think that we can do it all. We can't be prideful even in the gifts that God has given us. The one, you can't be prideful in your guests because remember, they are a gift from God. They are given to you by God. If his grace, you didn't deserve it number to God, didn't give you every gift, sorry to say, And he didn't give you the same gift in the same proportion as someone else. You need other. People is what Paul was saying, you can't be prying. Different gifts, abilities and functions, and the church again or not a bad thing. It's something that should not divide us. Many churches are divided because they want to be exactly uniformly the same on everything but all saying no there's different guess there's different functions. There's different Ministries. So don't be prideful. Differences in the church. Only become a problem. When people think they are better than others, are they think they can do it all themselves without anyone's help.

I can't do it all as a pastor. They think that's my Temptation daily to think I can do everything but I can't I'm not meant to I meant to humble myself a real. This one of the best. Most disturbing hasn't spoken to me more than I feel like any other sermon in the past few weeks because I need to depend on other parts of the body like to do the work of ministry. When you act in fried when you don't ask for help, you are limiting the function and Gifts of others. In the church. You say, oh oh, I can do it all, I can do it. I don't need help, I can do this. I can fill in the blank. I can be independent. When actually, you probably need some help and it maybe if you don't need it. But if you have the capacity, if you're limiting, someone's function, you're limiting someone in the church, being able to serve you. If you never ask for help Pride Keeps people from serving Pride keeps people from helping you. And when you do that, when you act in fried, you are failing to worship God. As you aren't, you are failing to live a life pleasing to God because he doesn't call you to live an independent life on your own in private. He says no be humble and see that there are other people in the church. They need to serve. Pride is not a strength. Independence is not a strength instead humbleness unity and working together in the body of Christ. That's the strength that's our god-given calling. That's our purpose in life. This is how we worship God by being humbled and recognizing that other people have gifts that we don't. And some of these gifts that Paul explains that this is not an exhaustive list. These are just different categories in this cover. A lot of ground, he says, first number 6, if prophecy, you use it, according to the proportion of one's Faith. So prophecy here can refer to for telling guy could reveal to you. Something that is going to happen in the future. And that could be used to encourage someone to get someone hope for something. But in the New Testament that often also refers to sharing the truth of God, we saw this and Acts chapter 2, as a fulfillment of Joel. It says that your young man and your old man, your young women and old women will be prophesy and what did they do an extra effort? What was the prophecy? They were sharing about God. They were sharing how Jesus died for them, that was their act of Prophecy. So probably also mean being a messenger, sharing God's truth. And then verse 7, we have if service using service if teaching and teaching, if it was worth giving with generosity leading with diligence showing Mercy with cheerfulness. Now, it's interesting that all these things we should all be striving towards to get better at. We should all be trying to be more generous to serve more to lead well to show Mercy. Now, we recognize that these are all good, Christian values that some people are going to be more gifted in one area. And then another and the way you find out, if it's your gifting is you try it out. You step up out of step out in faith seek to follow God in any of these areas again, he's a very general broad categories, you could serve one-on-one, you could teach in a small group contacts, it doesn't have to be in a large group there, different, many context in, which, you could play out these different gifts. It doesn't just have to be here on the stage. This is just one area of ministry. And a key Point here is that we can't missed is that Paul is directing us to actually use our gifts. It's possible that you have gifts that you're not using God did not bless you with a gift of sharing is truth or explaining his truth through teaching, or he did not give you the gift of encouragement or the gift of giving or leading or showing Mercy to keep it to yourself.

They're to be used for the church and its mission. And also, these versus cannot be used as an excuse. Say, well, I don't have any of those. Yes, I ain't doing nothing but that's not what he's saying. That's not the point of what he's saying. Remember, he would go back to the context he's saying don't be prideful other people have these gifts, he's not saying, you know, you can't use use this as an excuse not to do anything. If you're a Christian filled with the Holy Spirit, God has given you a gift. You are more valuable than you realized sometimes. We think too, highly of ourselves and we're prideful. And with a guy, got it all and then on the other, did we have other people? And sometimes we think they're so I can't do anything anyway. Those are both bad places to be God has gifted you With something, you have a purpose, the body needs you, the church needs. You you need the rest of the church because as we look into our third section We are family in Christ. Looking verse 9 Let love be without hypocrisy.

You know, if I've said this many times, but if you're may be here for the first time, church is difficult, members of the church people. That profess to be Christians, are not perfect. And this is why Paul is talking to the church and you have to tell them let your love be without hypocrisy because he knows that's a Temptation. He knows that some people are going to be two-faced, they put on a smile and say, I love you. I'm so thankful that you're here and then it doesn't go when you think we're beyond that. But he says, Let Your Love be deep. It says the test evil cling to what is good. Love one another deeply as brothers and sisters. This is going to be a constant, you could just this could be your life verse love one, another deeply that's difficult and you're never going to attain that perfectly because people are hard to love Brothers and Sisters in Christ are hard to love. This is why we need to constantly be renewing. Our minds constantly being exposed to the scriptures in to see what God wants from us. The kind of love and relationships. We were to have with one another in the church. That how you loved him? Deeply first, and continued says, take the lead in honoring wasn't one another. So instead of putting others down instead of saying, while they're not as good as I am, they're not gifted in this way and gossiping and talking bad about them. That's not loving and said you should be honoring them, you should be looking for ways, how people are gifted in encouraging them and things you're gifted in this. You can really do that. You're really good at that and give them honor. That's encouraging, the dim, your speaking. Well of them to other people. That's what being a loving family is about. The list goes on verse 11. How do we love? How do we worship? How do we obey God? He says, don't like diligence in Zeal. Be fervent in the spirit. Serve the Lord, another word for the Christian life. Being part of the family of God takes work, takes discipline, it takes energy. You can over the years, you can get in seasoned and temptations of laziness. Pieces, don't do that. Be diligent be fervent, serve the Lord. Now I know. There's going to be different seasons of life, and this is not meant to make anyone feel guilty saying I have this going on. Have this going on? I am physically unable to do the things that I used to do. And here we come back. To the main point here of humbleness to realize, maybe you're at a place where you can't do the things that you used to do and you want to so bad. And I get that. I understand that. And that is a result of the Fallen, the Fallen nature that we had sin and disease and we can't do the things that we want to do. But in those moments, when you can't do what you want to do, do you hold onto your pride or do you say, you know what, I need some help. I can't do this thing that I used to do. But you know what I can do, I can still be further. In the spirit. I can still serve the Lord and another area I can step out in faith and do something. I never did before because my church needs it, or this is what I can do now. It's not going to be easy. So we have this encouragement looking for 12. Rejoice in Hope. Be patient in Affliction be persistent in prayer. There is hope peeper eyes on heaven. It's a sure and blessed hope that we can rejoice in that one day when we stand before God, we would have an eternal reward because of your faithfulness. But to get there to get to that future state of Glory, we need to be patient. And if you've heard any preacher or any teacher, that says become a Christian and your life will be easier, that's just not true. That Paul is talking to Christian and he's ain't be patient in Affliction you're going to have trials and tribulations and troubles in hardship and when that happens where will you turn? Will you turn inward and prideful and depend on yourself? Or will you turn to God? Will you turn the others in the church and say I can't do this. I need help. In one way, God, my answer that prayer is through a church member because he says, in verse 13, share with the Saints. Has anybody ever called you a saint? If not Bibles calling you on you here today. You're holy in Christ, not that you deserved it. Not that you're better than anybody else be good. But because Christ took all your sins on the cross and now you are holy you are a saint And as a saint, as a part of the household of God, we are to share. One another's needs. We are to be hospitable inviting people into our lives allowing people to help you. Put away your pride. When your prideful and you don't allow other people to help you, you're actually hurting yourself and you're hurting the church. Again, I know this isn't easy. It's easier just to like no. I'm doing it myself. I'm not letting anybody know that I'm sick. I'm not letting anybody know that have a problem.

Reading, too many people were raised this way to say, no, you don't let any do you don't be vulnerable. You don't let anybody know anything, but that's not the way of Christ. He said to be humble, And if we're supposed to share the needs with one another, we got to know the needs.

Now we the past 13 versus we looked at how to treat one another in the church. And it was the love one, another deeply. Now how do we treat people outside the church non-christians non-believers even people that persecute us. We should love them to loving our enemies looking for is 14. He says bless those who persecute you and bless and do not curse. And I don't know which is harder to love people in the church. Deeply are to love those that persecute you. Both are pretty hard, right? Dick is the natural inclination. When someone is persecuting you, there may be mean to you, they're extending against you in some way they're doing wrong to you in some way that natural simple and clean shaven to get back at them to get revenge, right? The Bible is could clearly telling us not to do that, we can't control what happens to us why we can't control what that person does to us but we can control how we respond. And in the course of facing persecution, and trials and Evil. How are we to come together as a church looking for 16? It says Rejoice, with those who Rejoice weep with those who weep Again goes bet this issue go back to Pride because if you see someone else succeeding and having everything. Go the rightly everything just fall into place for their lives. You can start to feel better. You can start to feel envious jealous and likewise all that stuff happened to them and not to me. But God says that's Pride instead rejoice, when they Rejoice, sing be happy. That God has blessed them and then the flip side to is do you have sympathy weeping with those who weep? Those who are going through a difficult time, can you sympathize with them? Can you be compassionate for them? You can be prideful and thank well their problems aren't that bad. I've been through worse, they should just get over it but that's not weeping with those who weep. That's not showing sympathy to be United against God's people rejoice in when someone gets a promotion weeping when someone loses their job and they are Unity on the those basic level two for Joy singing and weaving.

And this is what it is. What it means to be United as he says of her, 16 says, live in harmony to be a peace live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud against don't like to that theme of pride pride, is at the root of a lot of sense to not be proud. Instead associate with the humble do not be wise in your own estimation. So as you are seeking peace and Harmony through, humility, that's how you seek. Peace is being humble, you're going to face the evil and sin, you're going to face it. You want then some people in the church people outside the church. Because remember going like talking about people in the church, how can Christian send? We're in a continual process of renewing, our minds. And so, you're going to mess up one day and you're going to. I hope I could have changed my thought on that someone in the church is going to mess up one day and they're like, they need to renew their mind is going to be mistakes, made it. So what do we do? When that happens when mistakes are made, when people stand against us, It comes back to this topic of loving your enemy. He says a 17 do not repay anyone for evil for evil another words they do evil to, you don't pay evil back. Instead give careful thought to do what is Honorable in everyone's eyes. So again, the Temptation is to get revenge 2 to pay evil that fight fire with fire so to speak, but he says, no slow down. Pray take a breath. Consider give careful thought to what you're about to do. Because most often our initial reaction has been not going to be good.

And there's a sense of winched when someone does evil and thin, we have a righteous sense of justice. Like we want them to be accountable, we want them to pay the price for their evil that righteousness. That's good. There's a sense of justice that you have that you want to that, you would care about. But there's a right way of justice and there's a wrong way because if you were to do it individually, God has not given us that Authority. You don't have the authority to issue Justice on your own.

Tickets to what should we do? We don't repay evil with evil. Their sin doesn't justify you standing by your kids. Say what he did at first, but that doesn't justify you doing it s. Okay, your goal should be Verse. 18 is possible, meaning it may not be, but if it is as far as depends on you, live at peace with everyone. That's the goal of someone. Say when there's evil done, your first thought should not be, how can I get? Even? How can I seek revenge? How can I hurt them? Like they're hurt. Me and said it should be I want to live at peace with you. I want to do everything. I can creatively. Think about him. Pray about to be at peace.

And we recognize this means that thing something's are out of our control, you can do everything right on your end, and they are going to steal attack you. Then, what do we do? We trust in the Justice of God. He says a 19 Friends, do not avenge yourselves. Instead, leave room for God's Wrath because it is written Vengeance. Belongs to me. I will repay says the Lord. So, when we want to issue Justice on our own, we when we want to seek revenge, what you're doing, is usurping God's Authority. God has not given us as individuals to go and repay someone for their evil. We have a right sense that they should be repaid. We have a right sense that there should be accountability and repercussions, but it's not us as individuals to go and pay that to them. That's not our place. So are you humble enough to hear this word from God? It's very clear. Do you trust in God's judgment and his Justice or do you think will? Yeah you know God God knows what he's doing but I'm ain't no better at this point. No, that's that's not it. And notice we're not excusing sin and evil runs at all. Just forget about it, don't worry about it. No he say no God going to take care of this is not just sweeping it under the rug, everyone will be held accountable one way or the other and there's that there's two ways this works out. Either this person, you have imagined a person that's in sin and evil either. This person will die in their sin without ever repenting, and ever turning to Jesus and they will stand before the Wrath and see the wrath of God for their sin Justice will be done or father grace. And patience of God, this person who was done so much evil and sin. They will turn over there soon to Jesus and trust in Jesus as their lord and savior. And Jesus will take the wrath of God in their place. So either they will take it one day on themselves without repentance and trusting in Jesus or Jesus took it for them. That leaves no position for you. As an individual to Matt out rap Injustice. They don't need your wrath Injustice. They need God's Ultimate. Rath and justice.

In actuality we think about we should not even be what we should be striving for and praying for is not seeking revenge or cursing our enemy, but we should love them. Love them. Practically like really, you say oh love is very general. What does that mean? Well, versed 20. If your enemy is hungry, feed him, you're taking care of him, get you taken care of your enemy. I mean, this is really this contrasts. He was talking about before he's talking about the church right now. It's not about enemies, like it's worth it. If we do, if we're to do this for our enemies, how much more for our church family? Free thirsty. Give him something to drink. Do you review repay? Evil with good? Not evil for evil. You do good for them when possible, not because they deserve it. Because you are merciful as your heavenly father has been merciful with you. And again, doing good for someone. Doing good for someone that does not excuse or approve of their sin and evil. God's justice still Rings true as he says in verse 20, For in doing. So you will be heaping, fiery coals on his head. No, I've heard this verse quoted as something summery. Do they say it? Kill em with kindness right, kill them with kindness, that's not what this verse is saying. We're not to be passive aggressive in a month and that's my Temptation. Like I want to be so like I want to be so nice to them. It's going to hurt right? That's not the good motivation. What it's saying is at the end of time this person, it has sending any in has done evil, will stay in the front of the god of the universe and God will look over their life. And you can look at the account and say, we'll go to his timeline and he'll go to a point in the, on the timeline. It where someone was merciful to them when they were the one, love them when they didn't deserve it. And he said, hey this guy was merciful to you, he was loving to you and you still were evil to him. Look at it, the evidence of the Wrath about to fall. So that's what's going on here. So in when you are loving your enemies and I still don't repent and turn to God. That is evidence of the justice that they will receive. This verse doesn't mean kill them with kindness. This is a genuine and sinful indictment. It's a genuine indictment on sin and evil justice will prevail God's justice will prevail. Looking for 21. Is it kind of sums it up? What we how you should live? Don't be conquered by evil, but conquer evil, with good. Don't respond with vengeance, recognize that ultimate Justice belongs to God, you're only responsible for your actions and how you respond. And part of the way, we worship, God and is all written and worship of God. How do you worship God? How do you live for him? Imitate his Mercy. Imitate his grace. Love people that don't deserve it. Now. If you're like me, I'm talking a lot about love and God's justice and we don't have the authority to punish evil. You can they will what do we do? Is there any way on Earth are we just waiting for heaven and God's ultimate Justice? Is there any way on this Earth in this time that Justice can be done? I can't and you're saying individually we can't Is there somebody that can? Yes. That's what next week will be about Romans 13. Paul's addressing this question, he will say, God has given authority to governments. He is delegated this authority to issue Justice here on Earth to send an evil. And I thought this would be fitting with the election coming up in the role of government, and how we vote, and who we vote for. As a little be looking at the, the government's role. And according to the Bible next week, and Romans chapter 13, Before today, I hope this is. I know there's a lot of packages, a lot of things. I don't, I don't know what time it is, I hope it's not that one, but

God has called us to worship him with our whole lives. And there's in these 21 versus, there's always something we can be improving upon and there's going to be a Temptation on both sides to be lazy to go out. I don't need to do anything. God loves me. I can just live my life. I don't want. You clearly wrong about that. God wants your whole life to being serviced. And on the other side, there's going to be a Temptation for many people and I'm doing everything I can and I feel like God doesn't love me. That's not right either. God loves you, despite anything you do, he died on the cross for you. You're completely forgiven. We live out of the mercy of God, we don't live to get the mercy of God. So maybe someone's here today and this is totally news to you. You maybe, for whatever reason, you grew up thinking that you had to do good stuff to earn God's love may today, be the day that you truly receive God's. Mercy is a free gift that you don't deserve. We pray for you as, as we respond to this word. Got to. Thank you so much. For this opportunity just to lay bare our hearts in front of you and we recognize, we need you. God, I ask that you remove any pride in our hearts as a church. That anyone that thinks that they need to do it on their own that that, they think that spiritual maturity is being independent, that they would see that spiritual maturity is being dependent. Depended on you. Depended on others. God, help us be a church that steps up when when called for but someone needs help, we would do it, joyfully And when we can't do something. When we are unable to, we would have the maturity to say. I just can't help you at this point. But I can do this. God, we need your wisdom. We want to live for you and it's not as if this life is difficult.

That we need your help. Thank you so much. We love you in Jesus name. Amen.